What do ya'll think about taking jakes? I wouldn't think it would be sporting (perhaps because of my growing up salt water fishing, where size limits are hard and fast and necessary rules), but after seeing the birds some guys took on public land Saturday, I feel that I might be in the minority.

And before anyone thinks I'm being snobbish or critical, no, I'm not judging those guys who shot the jakes, and, yes, I walked out of the woods Saturday empty handed!

I let 5 go yesterday but I say each man be his own judge. I would rather hunt them as longbeards.

Perfectly legal and nothing wrong with it. Each individuals choice. Lot of folks say, including myself, gotta let the jakes go to become longbeards. But, let that nice longbeard go this year and he may have 1.5" spurs next year.

As shopson said it is your choice. I may take one with the bow if I had a chance but will most likely pass on them now otherwise.

Like everybody else has stated it is first & foremost a personal choice. I choose not to shoot Jakes - anymore. I have taken one jake, my fourth bird. He came in silent except for his footsteps in the leaves. When he popped his head up over the rise I could see he was all red-on-the-head and was in half strut. I assumed he was a gobbler and took him. Nice bird though: 15# with a 5" beard.

I have since let many jakes walk past my gun barrel. As a matter of fact I had six come in this morning at 15 yds. I really enjoyed the show watching them establish pecking order and listening to their teenage gobbles. They do love to gobble! Great morning! Oh, how I wish there had been a gobbler in the bunch!
I look at it this way: next year I could have six two-year-olds to hunt in addition to the three gobblers running up and down the creek bottom (hopefully there will be at least one less gobbler next year ).
Is this true? Does letting the jakes walk create better Tom hunting the next year? Who's to say if one of the jakes I have let walk in the past gave me the chance to harvest him the next year or the year after that? I hunt a private farm of ~1000 ac. and the birds there stand a better than average chance of making it to next year, but the biologists talk about "distribution of offspring" and "genetic dispersal". Of course these factors impact the chance that I will see the same birds year after year, but this is my decision and i decde to not shoot jakes, much like I now won't shoot a spike or a forky deer. It's kinda like the deer hunting philosophy: if you want to shoot big bucks you gotta let the little ones walk to grow-up.
Again, I see nothing wrong w/ taking any legal bird (well, I don't think I would shoot a bearded hen in the Spring) and if nothing else the jake I took was a bit more tender than some of those boss Toms!
just my .02 cents

if you will be proud of him even after you have killed him, take him. if you will be ashamed, let him go. its your choise. just my 2 cents.

As said b-4 - matter of choice. I don't take them - rather see them as longbeards. Also enjoy watching them and trying to learn a little from their behavior. To me and a lot on this site, it's not about killing, but playing the game.

I agree with Garwood, A trophy is in the eyes of the beholder. I personally have never taken a jake bird.
Keep em Gobblin!
Struttinbird

brwndg....don't blame ya for passin up the jakes with all that private land ya have....I bet it is a fun learning expierence watchin all those jakes .....it's not like that here on public land...Its POW & Floop....if it gobbles or has a beard...its down....

That pretty well sums it up for me. In South Carolina last week, on the last day of the hunt, Diablo called in a flock of jakes and hens. I wasn't going to shoot a jake so I let them walk into 10-12 yards and was really enjoying being that close to the 4 jakes and 5 hens. All of a sudden the closest jake turned and I immediately realized that he had several beards. After finally being able to get my gun up and swung around on him I made a good shot on him. It was a very exciting hunt, a very unusual turkey that ended up having 4 beards, and a hunt that I will remember and a turkey I am proud of. Here's a pic of the turkey we named, post-mortem, "Quatro"...

Fine example Freddy of "It Just Depends". I can tell you this much, it would have taken every fiber in me not to shoot a jake this season if the opporunity presented itself after three birdless springs. I love to eat turkey just as much as I love to hunt them! That's simply me being honest. Now, who knows what I would have done given the opportunity. Now that the monkey is off my back, I'll probably pass on a jake. But then again...It Depends.